Based on a True Story introduced the hunt for a new serial killer — but how did Travis Kelce end up on the possible victims list?
During season 2, which premiered on Thursday, November 21, Ava (Kaley Cuoco) and Matt (Tom Bateman) try to decipher a clue sent to them by the Copycat Killer. Matt points out that the message includes a reference to a chief.
“He is targeting the chief of police? What other chief?” Ava asks before saying the word “chief” multiple times and then gasping. “He is going to kill Travis Kelce!”
Matt reminds Ava that the victims are meant to be connected “via the medical world,” which takes Kelce — who plays for the Kansas City Chiefs — off her list. Ava ends up being wrong about who the murderer is going to kill next — but Kelce, 35, remains alive and well throughout the rest of the season. The season can’t be said for Jared Leto, who ends up brutally murdered on the set of Aaron Sorkin‘s movie about Anthony Fauci.
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Based on a True Story, which debuted on Peacock in 2023, introduced fictional couple Ava and Nathan (Chris Messina) as they teamed up with serial killer Matt to start a podcast to make money off the true crime trend. Matt a.k.a the West Side Ripper ended the season at odds with Ava and Nathan but found a connection with Ava’s sister, Tory (Liana Liberato).
The sophomore season picked up with Matt trying to remain sober — from murder. That proved tough once someone started to kill people in the same style as the West Side Ripper. Ava and Nathan, meanwhile, were navigating life as new parents who were worried that Matt was either responsible for the new murders — or was being framed.
While Kelce didn’t actually make an appearance on Based on a True Story, he has been mentioned more often in media since his romance with Taylor Swift. The Kansas City Chiefs player even flexed his acting muscles earlier this year when he joined Ryan Murphy‘s spooky FX series Grotesquerie.
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Kelce shared the screen with the likes of Niecy Nash-Betts and Courtney B. Vance in the hit show that also involved a serial killer.
“The blessing about this particular show for an actor is that most of the characters play a duality,” Nash-Betts, 54, joked during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly in October. “Travis went from being a charming person who worked at the hospital to being down and out on his luck guy who has a mullet.”
At the time, Nash-Betts recalled making an effort to make sure Kelce felt supported on set.
“I just wanted to make sure I was very, very present for him in this new space. [He was] coming into the acting world and was just getting baptized in [the acting world] real quick,” she added. “[Grotesquerie] is going to come with some things that maybe other shows don’t present so I just wanted to make sure he felt covered. I wanted to make sure we had time to rehearse.”
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Kelce, meanwhile, referred to Grotesquerie as a “big” opportunity.
“The biggest difference from being outside of the acting world and starting to get into it, is you’re very much in tune with scenes,” Travis said on his and brother Jason Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast in May. “You don’t want to get so caught up with the lines, you want to be in the scene with whoever you’re acting with, right? I started off thinking, ‘Man, just memorize your lines. Memorize your lines.’ But in reality, you want to be able to take that scene from one point to the next and portray exactly what the scene’s meaning is.”
In classic Based on a True Story fashion, the second season finale introduced more questions than answers. That means if the show is renewed for season 2, the groundwork has already been laid out for Travis to make a cameo — hopefully not as the victim of the newest serial killer.
Based on a True Story is currently streaming on Peacock.
